Kate Collins's Blog, page 95

The wearing of the green!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



How will you celebrate the day?

One Teapot or Two?

by Karen Rose Smith



Do you drink brewed tea? I keep a cupboard full of several different kinds--from Celestial Seasonings to Bigelow to Teavana and tearoom mixed loose teas. Hot or cold, I brew depending on the season. The thing is--I not only like tea, but tea pots! After all, there's a difference if I brew two cups of tea or six cups. The teapot pictured above is my latest from Lenox. It accompanies my Butterfly Meadow dishes.

Some of my favorite teapots are designed by James Sandler.  They are English bone china. I like to use bone china because I know it's the quality I prefer in a teapot.  I do hand wash them all after use.



I use teapots for brewing tea.  But because they're so pretty, I also use them in decorating. I like flowers, especially roses.
















However, I also love cats.  I've discovered cats on teapots aren't so easy to find.  My son gave me this one for Christmas.







Then there's tea for one!

But tea seems to taste better when it's shared. So far, one of my favorite tea rooms is Gypsy's Tea Room in Westminster, Maryland. I also enjoy the semi-annual teas at Yesteryear, our Hanover, Pennsylvania antique center. I like tasting new teas, along with new soups, sandwich combinations and, of course, desserts. It seems there are always friendly people at the teas. At Gypsy's, I met a woman who runs a cat sanctuary. Serendipity! At Yesteryear the seating is in groups of four and my husband and I always enjoy the new people we meet there.


I've paired this cobalt blue teapot with an antique creamer and sugar that was my grandmother's.  

About tea and tea rooms...

I will have a new cozy mystery series released in January 2018--Daisy's Tea Garden Mysteries. This series is set in the fictional town of Willow Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The first book in the series will be MURDER WITH LEMON TEA CAKES.

Daisy's Tea Garden has become a gathering place in Willow Creek, (Lancaster County) Pennsylvania. Daisy, widowed mom of two teenagers--one at home and one who recently started college--along with her aunt Iris, are the proprietors. Although her aunt is in her golden years, she's enjoying the company of Harvey Fitz, wealthy CEO of Men's Trends.  (Harvey's favorite snack at the tea garden are Lemon Tea Cakes.) The only problem is that Harvey isn't yet divorced.  When Harvey is murdered on the tea garden's patio with a foot-high unicorn statue, Aunt Iris is the prime suspect.  But Daisy soon discovers many residents of Willow Creek are suspects--from Harvey's soon to be ex-wife, to his children to his business colleagues.  Daisy's focus has to be on her adopted daughter Jazzi (Jasmine) who wants to search for her birth parents.  But with the help of a former detective turned furniture store owner, Jonas Groft, she finds answers for both her daughter and her aunt. (Daisy lives in an unusual home renovated from an old barn along with her daughters Jasmine (16) and Violet (18).  Their two cats, a tuxedo feline named Pepper and a dark tortoiseshell with a unique split colored face named Marjoram, are important members of their family.)


I hope you enjoy this new series as well as all of my Caprice De Luca Home Staging cozies.

Daylight Savings Time...love it or leave it

Okay, we here in Ohio and a lot of other states have made the jump into daylight savings time. I have to say I’m a fan mostly because it heralds the jump into spring and the promise of all things green and colorful and away from grays and dismal. It also gives more light at night.

I think daylight savings time was invented during the push to save energy and honestly we should all do that but non scientific and eco reason is that it also gives us more time at night to play. I love getting out of work at the Snooty Fox...a consignment shop...at eight-thirty and it still is light when I get home.
Daylight savings time is really good for my mental state. I’m one of those sun freaks that the more sun the better. Night is great in that it’s all kind of magical and mysterious and dark is good for sleeping but give me the sun and with daylight savings there is simply more of it...or more that is useable.
I know this is hard for parents. I remember the days when trying to get my toddlers to bed at eight and it was still light out. It was a tough sell to get them to sleep. But now that they are older they love dst as much as I do.
If I had my way we’d be on dst all the year round! I think a candidate could run on this issue alone and win!

So what about you? Does your state partake in daylight savings? Do you love it or hate it? Are you with me in making dst an all year round event? 

Fun Shopping

by Maggie Sefton


  Photos show some of  my fun Saint Patrick's Day shopping.  


Those of you who have elementary school children or grandchildren will understand
 my post today.  I have a dear 10-year old granddaughter back in Northern Virginia, AnaSofia, and I do enjoy buying "kid stuff" for her.  But this year, I also have the opportunity to buy Saint Patrick's Day "fun stuff" for three more young children.   Yay! 






In addition to my 10-year old AnaSofia, I also shopped for a five-year old little girl, a seven-year old little girl, and an 11-turned 12 year old boy.  I had a lot of fun doing that Saint Patrick's Day shopping, believe me.  I really believe I have never lost my "inner child."  So----I love checking out all the cute, silly, and funny St. Paddy's Day "stuff."  I mailed off two large post office Priority Mail boxes for the larger family as well as a large box for AnaSofia.





Sorry this photo is sideways.  My photo-editing icon stopped cooperating last night.  

I found a really cute St. Patrick's Day card (copyright laws prevent my showing pix) with a photo of a  chubby Pug doggie with a Sherlock Holmes hat on the front of the card.  Plus, an adorable kitten card.  Cute message inside, too.  :)    Plus, Shamrock stickers.   I also found pretty little Shamrock Green play necklaces and hair bows, knitted wrist bands, several pastel colored adorable stuffed bunny rabbits, Peppermint-flavored cake mix, and a container of . . .you guessed it. . . Shamrock Green frosting.  And for good measure, some of the bakery's yummy Chocolate soft cookies that have green and white M& Ms all over them.  Yep.  Candy-coated cookies.  You've gotta love it.  Oh, yes, and a booklet of all kinds of Disney Princess stickers and coloring pages, as well as a booklet of Yoda and Star Wars villains and heroes.  I also found two packages of those little cars that all kids love to play with.  Oh, and a magazine all about cars, all kinds of cars.  

See?  I wasn't kidding when I said I had a lot of fun.  :)

TELEVISION SHOWS AND A SENSE OF PLACE

By Mary Kennedy                            
                                                             

Many of you know that I'm married to a Brit and am a great fan of British TV shows. It occurred to me the other night (while I was watching Crownies) that so many of my favorite shows could only be set in the UK and Australia. Crownies, of course, is set in the DPP, Department of Public Prosecution in Sydney, New South Wales.
                                                         
 Another favorite British series is The Crown, the story of Queen Elizabeth. A terrific series and I can't wait for the next season.  I love British crime dramas and Midsomer Murders is a favorite. Set in a small English village, Midsomer (a town which seems to have an inordinate number of murders!) Here are are two of the original cast members, John Nettles (who has a terrific background as a stage actor) playing DPI Tom Barnaby and Jason Hughes playing Ben Jones, his sergeant.                                                                                                                     In later episodes, John Nettles finally left the show to do theatre, saying he "didn't want to be the world's oldest living policeman." His part was taken up by Neil Dudgeon (also called "DCI Barnaby," since he is supposed to be a cousin of Tom Barnaby) and Gwilym Lee, playing his Sergeant Nelson.                                                                                                                    
        Three of my favorite American shows are set in Washington DC. "The Americans," starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell....                                                             and "House of Cards," starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.                                                         
And of course, who could forget "Gibbs" (Mark Harmon) and his wonderful team from NCIS, a show based in DC.                         
                                                           
 How about you? Do you have any favorite shows that are forever linked to a particular city or country?  Happy viewing and have a great week! Mary Kennedy

The Spotlight is on a mystery cruise!

Follow our blog with Bloglovin

Title Wave, the 10th Booktown Mystery, goes to paperback on June 6th.

Tricia and Angelica leave Booktown behind for some much needed R&R. Naturally they choose a Mystery Lovers cruise, where they can ponder whodunnit in deck chairs while sipping colorful drinks and soaking up some rays. But the fun is cut short when a fellow passenger is murdered for real. Is the killer a famous mystery author, one of her fans, or a member of the ship’s crew? As Tricia tries to find the killer before they reach port, she may be cruising for a bruising...

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW!
Amazon |   Barnes & Noble  |   Books A Million  |   Book Depository  | Chapters 

FREE for a limited time!

by Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett

Whew! Look what I put together over the past couple of days -- a sampler of my books written as Lorraine Bartlett. It includes the opening chapters of the Victoria Square Mysteries (including the cookbook), the Lotus Bay Mysteries, and the Tales of Telenia adventure-fantasy series.

 I know many of you have already read these books, but maybe you know someone who might like to give them a try.

 For a limited time, I'm giving this away free via INSTAFREEBIE.

https://instafreebie.com/free/27uU9?source=author

I hope you'll tell your friends. Thank you!

Friendship and Lunch

by Karen Rose Smith


As a writer, I sometimes forget there is a whole world outside of the ones I create in my mysteries and romances.  Friends are the best way for me to de-stress, share a meal, and talk about everything we both care about. 
This was a banner week for me for this type of de-stressing.  On Saturday I had a birthday dinner for my bff and her teenage daughter.  Conversation included fashion, healthy food, desserts and summer plans.  On Sunday my hubby (he is my bff too) went shopping with me and we stopped at my favorite hometown restaurant for lunch.  Since we've been married 45 years, any and all subjects are on the table from politics to cat care.  On Monday, a writer friend and I had lunch.  We had a deli buffet and she brought dessert--tiramisu.  Donna and I have known each other for about twenty years.  We aren't in the same town so we Skype now and then.  But I look forward to face-to-face conversations.
Donna has a cat and a fairly new pup and I'm a cat mom to four inside cats and two strays.  So our conversation usually starts with that.  The publishing industry is always a subject we delve into--what promotion works and what doesn't, changes in social media, and trends that might be popular today but not tomorrow.  We also discuss the challenges of plotting and day to day writing.  Donna is a beta reader for my mysteries and I trust her judgement.  She writes western historical fiction and historical mysteries.  But our different styles and genres add spice to our discussions.





Food and friends seem to go together.  Is that because we're more relaxed when we eat, drink coffee and tea and sometimes share a luscious dessert?  

Things you learn when you don’t expect to learn anything

Okay, I admit it I’m a self-proclaimed Gilmore Girl junkie.

I’ve watched the episodes so many times I can probably recite the dialogue by heart or at least I know a lot of the great lines like If you’re going to throw your life away be sure he has a motorcycle.
I cried when Rory graduated from Chilton, cried when Sookie got married and laughed when Kirk crashed the car into Luke’s diner.  
When Lorelei got engaged to Max he sent her a thousand yellow daisies because she said an engagement should be special. When my daughter got engaged I left her bunches and bunches of yellow daisies because I agree that an engagement should be special. There weren’t a thousand but a lot and she got the message as she’s a Gilmore junkie too.

I’ve not only been entertained by the Gilmore Girls but learned stuff like you have to let you kids do their own thing even though you think...Have you lost your mind! And that you should never argue with your children, it’s just now worth the heartache. Actually I learned that from Maggie Smith on Downton Abby and it is soooooo true!

I also learned from Gilmore Girls that I’m not the only coffee crazy person out there, that dreams do come true and having a best friend, especially if it’s your daughter, is more precious than all the money in the word.

I also learned something really, really useful from Rory. Making a pro/con list really works. When I have a decision to make I now write down the pros and cons and see where it takes me. The pro/con list doesn’t lie.

So what about you? Have your ever learned something from a TV series or movie that you brought into your own life and it work? Maybe a tradition that you picked up and tried out?

Movie Time

by Maggie Sefton



Yes, it's that time again, everyone----no, I don't mean Income Tax Time, even though that's also true.  I mean it's time for another Movie update on some of the films I've seen in my rounds of the local cinemas.  I was out of the theaters the weekend before last, but I was able to catch a movie this past weekend.   Hopefully some of these films will be playing somewhere in your area.


The movie I saw this past weekend was one that was on my list from the moment it appeared in theatres---A DOG'S PURPOSE.  Definitely for animal lovers.  It's a great story and told through the doggy narrator who describes the several lives he's experienced and all the dramatic and funny happenings in each one.  And, yes, I definitely shed some tears, so I had my tissues handy.  I'm a big softie with animal movies.   That wonderful movie a few years ago, WAR HORSE, just put me through the wringer.  :)  Saw it at least twice.  See?  A big softie.  But, A DOG'S PURPOSE is easier on the viewers, so check it out.


PATRIOT'S DAY----This is one heckuva movie, folks.  True to life, unfortunately.  It's the story of some of the people---real and dramatized---who experienced that horrific day in 2013 at the Boston Marathon  when two bombs were placed in the midst of race watchers along the sidewalk.  Mark Wahlberg plays a Boston cop who was on duty that day and watched the explosions and joined other Boston police as they hunted down the bomber.  And caught one of them.   Non-stop action in this one, folks.


LION----This is another story that is based on actual events.  A little five-year old boy named Saroo gets lost on a train and finds himself traveling thousands of miles across India, far from his home and family.  He winds up in Kolkata (Calcutta) where he doesn't even speak the dialect.  He has to learn to survive alone until he fortunately is adopted by a loving Australian couple.  Twenty-five years later, he returns on a quest to find his original family even though he only has a few old memories to guide him.  This is another great movie, everyone.  I can heartily recommend it.   Have you folks seen any of these films?